


Gone To The Dogs

by Warp5Complex_Archivist



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-05
Updated: 2006-03-05
Packaged: 2018-08-16 00:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8080204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warp5Complex_Archivist/pseuds/Warp5Complex_Archivist
Summary: Malcolm's been injured on yet another away mission. Trip and Hoshi fill him in on the details. (05/11/2003)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Kylie Lee, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Warp 5 Complex](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Warp_5_Complex), the software of which ceased to be maintained and created a security hazard. To make future maintenance and archive growth easier, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but I may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Warp 5 Complex collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Warp5Complex).

  
Author's notes: This was written as a Mother's Day gift for our very own ListMom, the Super Sarah Bewley. Happy Mom's day, ListMom! The Mother's Day Challenge was as follows: It had to be humorous, include our boys Trip and Malcolm, and have a Mom in it. Here ya go. And yep, this is another Sickbay Series Story! Considering where the story takes place, it seemed silly not to include it.  
  
With many thanks to kageygirl for a beautiful beta. And to Squeaky, who wanted to.  


* * *

Malcolm came awake slowly, the thick darkness giving way to gray, and then finally the details crept back and he realized he was in sickbay—again—lying on one of the recovery beds.

"Hey, you're awake." Trip's voice. A second later Trip's face came into view, and the commander began gently smoothing the hair back from his forehead. "Good to have you back." He smiled. "How you feelin'?"

"Like I've been hit by a truck," Malcolm answered honestly. He closed his eyes again and took stock, enjoying the warm touch of Trip's hand.

His head hurt terribly, which didn't surprise him. He was sure he'd been knocked unconscious; he had a lot of experience with getting knocked unconscious, and had found the aftereffects were pretty much the same every time. He was also wearing the atrocious standard sickbay pajama gear, which meant that he'd been there at least long enough for someone to have stripped and re-dressed him.

The back of his head hurt the most, as did his back and shoulders. He took a deep, experimental breath and that hurt, too. But he was pleased that it didn't hurt enough to indicate any broken ribs. He'd had a lot of experience with broken ribs as well, and hadn't much enjoyed any of them. His right hand felt strained, but again, not too badly.

But still. "Definitely a truck," he said, opening his eyes. "Or maybe a shuttlepod." He looked up into Trip's face. "Did I get hit by a shuttlepod?"

"Nope." Trip grinned, then his expression grew concerned. "Y'mean, y'don't remember any of it at all? Anything that happened?"

Malcolm looked away, thinking. "I remember going down to the planet in Shuttlepod One," he said after a moment, "and I remember taking the sample cases and walking with you and Hoshi to the crest of that hill." He looked back at Trip. "There were a lot of loose stones. I remember warning you both to be careful." He started to shake his head, thought better of it. "That's all."

"Oh," Trip said, definitely concerned now. "That's bad."

"That's bad?" Malcolm echoed. He was beginning to feel a tad worried himself, picking it up from the commander. "Did a lot more happen?" A sudden thought occurred to him and his eyes widened. "Shuttlepod One didn't crash again, did it?"

"No, no, it's fine," Trip answered, but he sounded distracted.

"Should I get Phlox, Commander?" It was Hoshi; Malcolm hadn't noticed her sitting silently on the other side of the biobed. He turned his head now so he could see her, grimacing slightly as the movement caused pain to ripple all the way down his back.

"Hello, Hoshi." He smiled at her. "How nice of you to visit."

Hoshi flashed him a small, worried smile, then turned her attention back to Trip. "Commander?"

"No...it's probably alright," Trip said. He moved his hand from Malcolm's forehead to rest it gently on Malcolm's arm. "Phlox is with the Cap'n right now—figure it'd be best not to disturb 'em."

"Oh," Hoshi said, nodding and looking at her hands clasped in her lap, "of course. You're right."

Malcolm looked back and forth at the two officers. "Is Captain Archer all right?"

"What? Oh, oh yeah. Sure. Sure he is." Trip nodded, though he didn't sound in the least as if Archer were actually all right. His smile was weak and miserable. "He's fine."

Malcolm turned to Hoshi, trying desperately to remember if the captain had come down to the planet or not. For the life of him he could only recall Hoshi and Trip being there, but the way they were acting..."Hoshi," he said, "has something happened to the captain?"

It wasn't a question so much as an order, and Hoshi looked back up at him, obviously forcing herself to do so with great reluctance. Her liquid brown eyes went to Trip. "I think we need to tell him what happened."

"Yeah," Trip said on a breath, "that's probably the best idea."

"Good lord!" Malcolm glanced between the two of them, deeply worried now. "You both sound like you've been to a funeral!" He moved his hand so he could clasp Trip's. "What happened down there, Charles? Please. I have to know."

It seemed to be the use of his true name that finally decided him, and Trip nodded. Still he hesitated, clearing his throat. "Well, y'remember bein' at the top of the cliff, right?"

"Yes."

"Good." Trip paused again, glancing at Hoshi before he continued. "Well...there was somethin' down there, Malcolm. Somethin' grabbed you."

Malcolm blinked. He had no memory of this at all. "What?"

"It's true," Hoshi said, and Malcolm turned his head again to look at her. "We found out later why our initial scans didn't pick up any sentient life-forms, but they were there."

"They came up outta nowhere, Malc." Trip sounded terribly guilty. "Faster n' anything I've ever seen. They grabbed ya before I could do anythin'."

"It's all right, Trip," Malcolm said soothingly. He squeezed the commander's hand. "I know you did your best." He meant every word.

"Thanks," Trip said. He squeezed Malcolm's hand in return. "Okay." He took a deep breath. "There were two of 'em—biggest damn critters I've ever seen. One of 'em grabbed your ankles, whipped you so fast over the edge of the cliff none of us had time to even blink. You hit against the rocks hard and went out like a light."

"I thought the second one was going to come after us," Hoshi said, and when Malcolm looked at her he saw she was trembling, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Why don't you come over to this side, Hoshi," Trip said gently. "Make it easier for Malcolm to talk to both of us."

"Oh." Hoshi smiled apologetically. "Sure."

Malcolm watched as Hoshi moved her chair around until she was sitting next to Trip. Trip put his free arm over her shoulders, and Hoshi leaned into him, seemingly grateful for his support. "What did they look like?" Malcolm asked them. He was hoping that a description would help him remember.

"Canines," Trip said immediately, "like huge, bipedal dogs." He shook his head in wonderment. "Floppy ears an' everythin'. Woulda' been funny if one of 'em hadn't tucked you under his arm like a football and gone running off with ya."

"Under his arm..." Malcolm repeated quietly. He wondered if that would account for the pain in his ribs: being squeezed under the arm of a brutally strong alien. "What happened then?" His eyes widened in sudden alarm. "The second one _didn't_ come after you, did it? You're both all right?"

"No, we're fine." Hoshi gave him a reassuring smile. "We both flattened ourselves to the ground and it didn't seem to see us." She shrugged. "Maybe its eyes weren't so good—like real canines. Either way, both of the aliens took off. We watched where they went, and then followed them."

Malcolm's eyes narrowed. "That was foolish," he said angrily. "You could have both been captured yourselves."

Trip and Hoshi looked at each other. "We couldn't leave you," Trip said quietly. His tone spoke volumes.

"You should have contacted the ship," Malcolm insisted, "called for a transport—"

"That's the thing," Trip cut in, "we tried. Hoshi contacted _Enterprise_ right away, but the dog-boys took you into a cave along the cliff. As soon as they did that T'Pol said you didn't register on their scanners anymore. They couldn't even get a signal from your comm. Something about the minerals in the rocks—same reason we didn't know about the locals in the first place."

"We were extremely careful when we followed them, Malcolm," Hoshi said, "and _Enterprise_ knew where we were at all times. If one of those creatures had so much as glanced at us, they would have transported us right out of there."

"And what if another of those dog-people had grabbed you as well? Apparently they were able to move faster than you could get a transporter lock."

"Well, they didn't, Malc, okay?" Trip rolled his eyes. "They were so intent on takin' ya back to their cave they didn't even check behind 'em, okay? We weren't in any kind of danger."

"That doesn't make it any less stupid."

"Malc," Trip was close to growling, "do you want to hear the rest of the story, or not?"

Hoshi hit Trip lightly on the arm. "It's not a _story_ , Trip," she hissed. "Don't trivialize it!"

"What?" Trip looked at her blankly, meeting her expressive stare. "Oh! Right. Yeah. Sorry." He looked back at Malcolm. His voice was gentle again when he spoke. "Do you want to hear what happened?"

"Yes," Malcolm said seriously, deciding to leave aside his anger for now. "Please continue."

"Right," Trip nodded. "Well, they went into this giant cave, and me an' Hoshi followed 'em. This place was _huge_ , Malcolm!" Trip spread his hands wide for emphasis. "There must've been about five hundred dog-folk types in there, carryin' torches and barkin' and howlin' so damn loud I figured the whole cave would come crashing down." He shook his head. "Hoshi an' I sneaked in, hidin' behind outcroppings of rock against the walls an' such." He looked at Hoshi and she nodded. "There were so many aliens there it was hard t'find you at first, but Hoshi's eyes are almost as good as her ears, and we did it." He turned to Hoshi and smiled.

Hoshi smiled back, then seemed to realize that Trip was looking at her expectantly. "Yes!" she said suddenly. "What happened next." She turned her attention back to Malcolm. "I did see you...you were at the back of the cave. Right against the far wall. They...they, uh..." She dropped her eyes, a blush stealing up her cheeks to her ears.

"It's okay, Hoshi," Trip said kindly, rubbing her back. "You can tell him."

"What is it?" Malcolm asked, anxious. "What did they do?"

"They'd stripped you naked," Hoshi said quickly. She was still blushing furiously. "And, uh, they'd strung you up by your wrists, over a wooden spike they'd somehow set into the stone of the cave. You were hanging over a fire-pit."

"Fire pit?" Malcolm asked, incredulous. His wrists didn't hurt—well, except for one hand—and his legs didn't _feel_ burned..."Do you know why?"

"They were gonna eat you, Malc." Trip nodded seriously. "Hoshi figured it out, from what they were sayin'. Well, howling, really."

"Uh-huh." Hoshi sounded almost like she were sobbing, and she buried her face against Trip's chest. He gave her shoulders a comforting squeeze.

"It's okay, Hoshi," he said, "Malcolm's okay. We got him back."

Hoshi just nodded against his chest, but she didn't seem able to speak.

Malcolm just lay back against the pillow, stunned. "I don't remember any of this," he said softly. He looked at Trip. "You must have been terrified."

Trip swallowed hard before he spoke. "Oh yeah. Terrified," he said solemnly. "We're just..." He closed his eyes, collecting himself. "We're just damn lucky they didn't kill you first. They just slathered you in some kinda oil."

"Oil." Malcolm grimaced. God only knew what he'd been covered with.

"Oil," Trip repeated. "Decon was a bitch."

Hoshi finally pulled herself away from Trip. She was wiping her eyes. "You were going to be a special sacrifice for the matriarch of the tribe," she explained. She seemed much calmer now, though her voice was a little shaky. She gave him a half-smile. "I don't think they knew you were sentient."

"It might not have changed anything," Malcolm said musingly. He reached out and took Hoshi's hand. "I'm so sorry you were frightened."

"It's okay, Malcolm." Her voice cracked. She buried her face against Trip again.

"Well," Trip said. He moved his hand to stroke Hoshi's hair. "We knew we had ta get you outta there before they lit the fire." He nodded at the ensign's dark head. "It was Hoshi's idea, since they looked so much like dogs n'all: she went out of the cave and called _Enterprise_." He paused, obviously composing himself. "Jon agreed to transport Porthos down to us."

"What?" Malcolm asked, amazed, "Porthos? Why?"

"It was our only chance, Malc!" Trip exclaimed. He squeezed the lieutenant's hand as if for emphasis. "We had to do _somethin_ ', right? And...an' Hoshi figured that if we were lucky they might think Porthos was a god, or something. We could use him to convince 'em to let ya go."

"My God," Malcolm murmured, "what happened?"

"Hoshi told Jon what had happened, and he agreed." Trip swallowed. "Apparently he took Porthos to the transporter room himself, sat with him until the last second, so he wouldn't get scared. When Hoshi came back into the cave she was carrying him—and she walked right on by me; right into the middle of all those dogs."

Malcolm's eyes went wide. "Hoshi...?"

"She did," Trip said quickly. He moved his arm back to the ensign's shoulders, pulling her closer to him as if to protect her from having to speak. "An' she walked right up to their big, white matriarch, brave as you please. Carrying Porthos the whole way. Everyone moved aside for her, too, when she saw what she was carryin.' They all dropped to their knees, howlin' even louder than before."

"I told them I was a servant of their God." Hoshi was speaking again, but her face was still tucked against Trip, so her voice was muffled. "I told them that the God was displeased with their offering...that they had to let me take you away, so your presence wouldn't keep offending Him."

"That was so brave," Malcolm said, voice awed. "And they let you? Just like that?"

"Not just like that." Trip dropped his head. "That, that's the bad part, Malc."

"Oh no," Malcolm breathed. He remembered what Trip had said earlier— that Phlox was with the captain. "What happened?"

"The dog-folk refused to let their deity leave," Trip said simply. "They said they'd let you go only if their God would stay with them."

Malcolm felt his chest turn to ice. "No," he said, "No. You can't—"

"Porthos is gone, Malc." Trip's voice was very small. "It was him or you."

"Oh my God," Malcolm whispered, "oh my God...the Captain..."

"He's real upset," Trip affirmed for him. "But he said we weren't leavin' without you, Malc. That no matter what it took, we weren't leavin'..." His voice caught, and he turned away.

"The hell we're leaving him!" Malcolm sat up, gritting his teeth at the momentary surge of pain. He pulled his hands away from Trip and Hoshi, brushed Trip off when the commander tried to steady him. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, groaning with the pain the effort cost him. "I am _not_ letting the captain make that kind of sacrifice—"

"Malcolm!" Trip had moved to the other side of the biobed in an instant, his hands on Malcolm's shoulders. "Ya shouldn't be up yet— Phlox said—"

"To hell with what Phlox says!" Malcolm spat. He stood on only slightly shaky legs, staring into Trip's blue eyes. "Porthos is as much a member of the crew as you are. I am _not_ going to leave any crewmember behind."

They stared at each other for a moment, Malcolm resolute, Trip unyielding. Then Trip's mouth twitched, curved down again, and finally stretched into a smile.

"April fool," he said.

Malcolm blinked. Then blinked again. Then his jaw dropped. "Why you bloody wanking bastard...!"

The next instant Trip was flat on his back on the floor, Malcolm crouched over him, pinning the commander's arms over his head. "I can't believe you did that!" Malcolm shouted at him. "I can't believe you'd play a trick on me! I'd just come out of a bloody _coma_ , for God's sake! Are you mad?"

"It wasn't a coma!" Trip was laughing almost too hard to speak, not even struggling against Malcolm's grip. "You were only out f'r an hour! Really!" he insisted in response to Malcolm's expression. Then he started laughing again.

"I'm going to kill you, Trip," Malcolm said.

"Hey!" Trip tried to sound indignant, but he was laughing too hard. "It was Hoshi's idea! Hoshi," he called to the ensign, who was still on the other side of the biobed, "help me out here—tell him it was your idea."

"He's lying! It was all Trip's idea Malcolm—I swear!" Hoshi was practically choking on the words, laughing almost too hard to speak.

"I suppose I'll have to kill her too," Malcolm said. He glared at Trip. "But you're first."

"'The hell we're leaving him!'" Trip repeated. "Oh Malc, you shoulda' seen your face...!" He broke into gales of laughter again.

"I believe I told the commander not to let you off that biobed."

Malcolm looked up to see Phlox standing in front of him, expression mildly forbidding.

"Sorry, doc." Trip tilted his head so he could see Phlox, still chuckling. He looked back at Malcolm. "See? You shouldn't've got up."

Malcolm gazed up at Phlox imploringly. "Can I kill him first?"

"Not today, Lieutenant." Phlox smiled indulgently. "You've had a nasty fall and need to finish healing before you start disposing of your crewmates, hm?"

"Fine," Malcolm grumbled. He let go of Trip's wrists and sat back on his haunches, then put a hand to his temple as a sudden wave of dizziness rolled over him.

Phlox was at his side instantly, helping him get back onto the biobed. "I think we've had enough excitement for one day, hm?" He looked pointedly at Hoshi and Trip. "Now that you've had your fun, I believe it's time to let the patient rest."

"Sure," Trip said as he pulled himself off the floor. He went over to Malcolm and leaned over him. "No hard feelings, right?" He grinned, blue eyes sparkling. "Boy, you're cute when you're pissed."

Malcolm tried to stare daggers at him, but he was finding it difficult to keep his expression stern. "You're a right bastard, Trip, you know that?"

"Yep." Trip grinned, completely unrepentant. "But I thought I was a 'bloody wanking' bastard."

Malcolm couldn't help himself: he smiled. "That too."

"Good," Trip said. He leaned in further and kissed him, a gentle touch of his lips. "Now get some rest," he said when he pulled back. He winked. "And maybe I'll let Porthos come by and tell you about his adventures with the dog-people."

"Commander..." Phlox's voice was full of gentle warning.

"Right away, doc," Trip said. He gave Malcolm a peck on the forehead, waved, and left.

"I'm so sorry about that, Malcolm," Hoshi said, though her huge grin made her seem a little less than mournful. She kissed Malcolm on the cheek. "But you really were priceless. Please don't kill me."

Malcolm smirked. "Don't push your luck."

Malcolm watched Hoshi as she walked away, still laughing, then he sighed. "Doctor," he said, "what actually happened to me on that planet?"

"Oh," Phlox said immediately, "apparently you lost your balance on some loose stones and fell over the edge of a small cliff. You landed mostly on your upper back and head." Now he gave Malcolm an overly- wide grin. "Luckily it wasn't very high up, so you have nothing worse than a mild concussion, two bruised ribs and a sprained wrist. You'll be out of here in no time."

"That's all?"

Phlox looked at him curiously. "You would prefer to have worse injuries?"

"No," Malcolm said quickly. "I mean, that's all that happened: I just had a bad fall."

"That's right," Phlox answered cheerily. "Don't worry, Lieutenant," he added at Malcolm's dark expression, "these kind of accidents can happen to the best of us."

"Of course," Malcolm said, smiling tightly. He watched as Phlox bustled about a bit more, checking his bioreadings and giving him an injection of welcome painkiller. "How long until I can go back on duty?"

Phlox shook his head, clucking his tongue fondly. "So impatient. You'll no doubt be pleased to know that you should be out of here by tomorrow morning, and you'll probably be ready for full duties in about two days."

"That's excellent," Malcolm said. "Thank you." He settled back on the biobed, his mouth stretching into a grin.

Two days. More than enough time to plan his revenge.


End file.
